According to the article in The Gazette, this company has no previous experience in the food industry and their son, who they've put in charge of PJ's, was previously working as an intern... On top of no past experience in the food industry, the article indicates they laid off all the previous staff.

If they cut out all the previous staff and are moving the whole operation to their base of operations, does that mean the farming/production itself is moving? Who's managing the production or is that all being outsourced? The articles don't really make much effort to clarify very much about this whole transaction.

So I've been pretty quiet over this last year compared to past years. Much of my personal life took a negative turn last year in April when, within the space of two weeks, my longest relationship came to a crashing halt and then my closest friend passed away.

Last summer I also launched the website for my business, but to date not a single has been placed through my website.. I attempted to promote it a bit on here and also through posts and ads on Facebook and posts on Twitter.. Looking at the database there has been the rare person here and there that has tried adding products to the cart, but that's about it.. I think the hard lesson here is that I first need to build some local trust and reputation in order to start gaining enough confidence in people that they'll be willing to order online.

That aside, this season I decided I wanted to change direction a bit. In past years I've aimed to grow a wide range of varieties - hoping that having seed and sample variety would help gain attention - but after last season I realized I need to narrow down and focus on aiming for bulk so that I can actually have enough fresh product to sell locally. From trying out the local farmer's market, having a nice range of seeds to sell and samples to show off gains a bit of attention, but what people really want is the ability to buy quantities of fresh peppers, and not just seeds. So this season I was hoping to grow around 3-5 super hot varieties and 3-5 sweet/mild varieties.

I started planting early - back in November - and I even made an effort to setup my grow spaces better than in the past. I purchased new fluorescent light fixtures, plastic tables instead of stacking up boxes, lined the walls with tinfoil to help with the lighting, etc.. Yet, even though most of my seeds germinated great they would grow to around around 2nd or 3rd set of true leaves and then either die or stall out.. This happened repeatedly, even with proper lighting and watering.. Only thing I can think of is that they needed better circulation because I, sadly, wasn't able to have any fans running.

Because of this:

* Went all/most of my Primo seeds only to end up with zero seedlings (this includes having ordered additional packs)

* Went through a ton of Orange Primo seeds with nothing to show

* I spent over $50 on 5 packs of Chocolate Bhutlah seeds ($13 of that was shipping - PuckerButt has some insane shipping costs for sending to Canada) and I've ended up with only -3- seedlings

* I planted a bunch Chocolate Primo Reaper seeds to end up with zero seedlings

* I ended up with zero Wartryx seedlings

* I planted a ton of White Ghost pepper seedlings only for them all too fail

* I planted a ton of Brown Naglah and though I have maybe 30-40 seedlings they are all struggling to survive

* I encountered the same with the Bell and Jalapeno seedlings to the point where I had to buy seedlings for these from local garden centers

(again: germination wasn't the issue, so I'm most definitely not faulting any seed providers)

After all this, the seedlings that have survived were ones that were planted well after January, so who knows if they'll have enough time in the season to produce.

I also had a full tray of around 36 Naga Jolokia seedlings that sprouted just last week, but I forgot to take the lid off the tray when I put it out in the greenhouse and they ended up roasting.. The same happened with another tray that was half Cayenne, half Sweet Banana.. So now I have 3 more full trays of seeds I'm trying to germinate: Naga Jolokia, Brown Naglah and White Ghost... But even if they take? Starting -this- late I feel like they probably won't stand a chance at producing.

There is one positive out of all of this - I finally started getting tables setup in my greenhouse! In the past my plants have always been on the ground, but instead of attempting to expand the greenhouse again this year I put focus on new soil and setting up tables. This way I have room for more plants and they'll be off the ground - helping to limit the chance of snails/slugs/etc and of grass/weeds growing up into the pots or around the plants. Should hopefully make a definite difference.

I've also decided to try my hand at more than just the peppers. Last season I tried growing some catnip and this season I'm trying the same - only I'm hoping to ramp up to at least 10-15 plants this time around. My cats (and others that have tried it) absolutely LOVE homegrown catnip so I figure if I grow this in a bit more bulk I can sell some fresh nip on the side locally - there's definitely a market for it. I'm also working on growing beans, peas, beets (for a friend) and corn.

I still have a ton of clean up to do of the plants/pots from last year, but I've been making some great progress setting up the new tables and getting seedlings transplanted. Below is a photo taken a few days ago and a video clip taken over a week ago showing some of my progress.. Since then I've transplanted quite a few more seedlings with plenty more to go.

The original Bubblegum is supposed to mature to red, as I understand. The Borg 9 Bleeder is supposed to be red, as well, and round and wrinkled (judging by the photos I've seen).. I've noticed the Bubblegum X PDN plants were already showing variation even before pods started forming. Only one other is has any pods hinting at maturing and that is coming out red and shaped more like a Brain Strain.

This one I'm unsure of does appear to have a shape akin to the PDN or the Pink Tiger's I grew last year.

Verdict?

Could this be a deviation since the Bubblegum X PDN seeds I got from Ford's are only F2 and far from stable? If so, I'm definitely going to hold onto a bunch of seeds.

I'm going to try and get up the nerve to eat this pod.. The smell is fainty citrus and I'd say more akin to peach. It smells sweet and not too floral.

Hey folks, it has been three years and a day that have passed since I first signed up as a member here and in that time I've had so many fine members of this forum help me out with advice, answers, suggestions and seeds. As time has passed I've worked hard to constantly keep learning about peppers & how to grow them, along with slowly preparing myself for the day when I would take the leap from hobby to business. With the current season will underway I am attempting to grow over 100 plants this year with over 30 different varieties ranging from mild to super hot - up from around 50 plants last year, giving me the opportunity to begin spreading the heat locally and across Canada - meaning that day has finally arrived!

After months of dedication I have now launched an official website and am ready to begin selling!

Built from scratch, the Super Hots Canada Food and Plantswebsite is beginning with sales of seeds and chile powders and I hope my fellow Canadians will take the time to check out the brand new website and maybe consider a bit of shopping!

After two years or more my other grow log was starting to feel cluttered, so I figured it was time to start fresh.

Sadly, of the 60+ plants I had this past year only one (Orange Bhut Jolokia) seems to be semi-alright and one other (Devil's Horns) is just barely hanging on. Between work projects, relationship troubles, and having been sick far too long in the past few months (found out I ended up with Pneumonia - yay..ugh) I just didn't have time to try and fight off the aphids that spread all-too-rapidly across my plants that I had managed to take in from outside. Even one of my oldest plants - a Naga Jolokia that was at least a couple years old - that I had put in the bathroom (I was putting plants wherever I could fit them) ended up giving up on me, even though I tried to fight off the aphids on that one.

So back in November I converted (yet again) a part of my bedroom into a grow space to use to get my plants started. This time I went with clear plastic to wall off the space, the kind of plastic they use for kitchen table covers - figured that would be sturdy enough to keep the cats out, but clear enough the sunlight from my bedroom window still reaches the rest of my room. Yes, I've decided that when it comes to the share of natural light in my room, my babies comes first. lol

I've got a couple of my T8 fixtures setup in that space and I also intend/hope to use another small room in the upstairs as a grow space as the babies get bigger and I need to spread them out. I still have my grow room in the basement with a 1000w HPS light, but this season I can't afford to run that light and there's basically zero natural light that makes it into that room - the window there is too small and usually blocked in the winter by the snow - so if I have to use that space it'll be a last resort. At least in the upstairs my plants are guaranteed to get natural light.

Also in November I tried planting a selection of varieties I was hoping to grow this season. Plenty of them popped, many didn't, but by late December the aphids somehow found there way into the new space? How? I have no damn clue. I ended up having to scrap them all, which was painful to do to them. The aphids by that point were just too much. So now I intend to scrub down the new space in my bedroom from top to bottom and I'm going to give it another shot. Sadly, a few of the varieties I was hoping to have I don't have more seeds for, but luckily I have a nice collection thanks to orders I've made and trades I've made with fine folks here on the forum.

It's likely far too ambitious, but my goal for this season is to have a total of at least 125 plants. I am aiming for five of each variety, if I can make it happen. This past season I tested the waters of seeing if there would be interest in my area for my peppers and I did find interested parties, only I simply didn't produce enough to really supply any of them. I know five plants of a variety still isn't much, but of the varieties I grow this past year where I had at least 3-5 plants I did produce more than enough to build up a supply of seeds to sell with a good portion of pods after that I could sell fresh or dried.

Part of my limitation with my grow last year was that with most varieties I only had maybe one or two plants and most of my seedlings had their growth stunted by the aphids. If I can manage a truly fresh start free of those damn things then I'm very confident I will have an amazing season.

So, without further ado, here is what I'm looking at planting from the seed collection I currently have:

2016 Grow List

* MoA Scotch Bonnet

* Farmer's Jalapeno

* Brown Naglah

* Giant Mexican Rocoto

* Cayenne, Long Red Thin

* Anaheim

* Douglah

* Fatalii (Chocolate)

* Fatalii (Peach)

* Urfa Biber

* Aji Habanero

* Fish

* 7 Pot White

* 7 Pot Jonah

* Aleppo

* Bhut Jolokia (White)

* Bhut Jolokia (Caramel)

* Bhut Jolokia (Peach)

* Devil's Horn

* Elephant's Ear

* Brazilian Starfish

* 7 Pot Primo

* Bishop's Hat

* Pink Tiger

* Datil

A number of businesses and people I talked too in the past year expressed interest in the super-hots, but also said they'd love it if I could try supplying them with sweet/mild varieties. I haven't that much luck with Annuum's, but I'm going to give a few a shot, such as Urfa Biber, Aleppo, Elephant's Ear and Anaheim. I know Anaheim is pretty damn common, but some months back I decided to buy a sampling of a few different varieties from a local grocery chain and I really liked the flavor of that one.

By the time the summer hit this past season my Carolina Reaper (which was my oldest plant) had given up on me. It never did manage to grow many pods and even the new Reaper plant I grew in the past season only managed to produce under 10 pods.. So I've decided to give the Primo a go this time around. All the debating aside, some of the reviews I've read have said the Primo isn't so slow to mature and is more prolific, so I want to see if that's true. If it proves true, that'll be awesome.

And I'm going to attempt the Brown Naglah again since a couple seasons back it did incredible. I loved the color when they're fully mature and I really liked the taste - it stands out to me above all the other super-hots I've had the chance to try to this point. (the folks at Buckeye did a fine job with that creation).

I'd love to give 7 Pot Bubblegum a shot again, but this past season discouraged me. It threw out plenty of pods by the end of the season, but none really grew to any size. Of 20-30 pods I managed to get a total of -3- seeds. *sigh*